Run Run Away
by FoxyWombat
Summary: What if Maggie wasn't alone when she first visited the ER , but brought Abby's halfsister...features a Carby friendship & maybe a little more...or maybe Luby...who knows?
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't know anything, except for Maureen and vague medical knowledge.

A/N: This is my version of "The Visit" when Maggie first showed up at the ER. It begins pretty much the same as the show did, except for the addition of Abby's half-sister, which alters to original plot. Happy reading and please reply!

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_Chapter One_

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"Are you just hanging out here?" Carter asked the teenage girl seated in the far corner of chairs. A large sweatshirt whose hood blocked most of her pale drawn face hid much of her petite frame.

"Like I told the guy at the desk, I'm waiting for my mom," she snapped.

"Does she have a name?" the girl didn't respond and Carter pulled down the hood of the sweatshirt, "Do you?"

"Maureen," she glared, pulling down her headphones so they hung around her neck.

"You or your mom?"

"Me," she coughed deeply.

"You sick?" he asked, switching into doctor mode.

"Bronchitis," she coughed again.

"Sounds worse than that," he felt her cheek, "You have a fever. Are you taking anything?"

"I finished the Zpac a couple of days ago."

"I want to check you out," he stood up, offering his hand.

"I'm fine," she glared at his extended palm.

"You could have pneumonia," Carter grabbed her arm to pull her up.

"No!" she shouted over the ringing in her ears from the sudden change in position. Wrenching her arm from his grasp, Maureen started to walk away, but everything started to go black and she passed out into Carter's arms, who carried her to gurney in Curtain 2. Maureen's eyes blinked open and she realized what happened, "Crap!"

"Should have listened to me in the first place," he teased and she ignored him, leaning back against the thin pillow and closing her eyes. Carter chuckled to himself and stuck his head out to find a nurse, "Hey, Lydia, could you help me get a chart together for a teen with pneumonia?"

"I'm on the GSW coming in, but I'll get Abby," she said as she rushed by.

"Thanks," he went back to Maureen and began getting her vitals, "You're blood pressure's low and I think you're dehydrated. When was the last time you ate?"

"Coffee and a bagel for breakfast."

"It's dinner time," he scolded.

"I wasn't hungry," she shrugged.

"Not good," he listened to her lungs," Sounds like rales, which means-"

"Fluid in the lungs mostly likely caused by pneumonia," she broke in, "But I'll need a chest x-ray for confirmation, right?"

"Yeah," he was mildly impressed, "How old are you?"

"Sixteen in two weeks," she coughed, "I do a lot of reading."

"Do you want to go into medicine?" he slid a nasal cannula behind her ears.

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"What do you need?" Abby asked walking with a liter of saline and a blank chart.

"Start an IV now, then draw for a CBC, crit, and hemoglobin, and dip a urine," Carter rattled off, "Then call radiology to set-up a chest x-ray to check for signs of pneumonia."

"Okay, what's the name?" Abby began filling out the chart, without looking up.

"Maureen-" he trailed off, hoping that the patient would fill in the last name, but she just stared at Abby.

"Wyczenski," Abby finished, looking at the patient for the first time.

"Wait, Wyczenski as in?" he asked and both women nodded.

"Hey, Sis," Maureen smiled weakly then coughed.

"What are you doing here?" Abby asked immediately.

"Getting medical care from Dr. Carter," she shot back sarcastically.

"Mom said you didn't get off the bus with her," she ignored her sister's comment.

"Can't I have a hello before we play twenty questions?" Maureen sat Indian-style on the gurney

"Sorry, Hi," Abby hugged her and sat down next to her, "So?"

"I missed you, so I came to visit," she said as Carter slipped out of the curtain area to give them some privacy.

"What about school?"

"I told you, I missed you," she shrugged, "Besides, I'm doing fine in school."

"Maureen," Abby scolded her sister, who just coughed in response.

"Okay, I got into a fight with Maggie and I needed to get away," she finally admitted, "I just couldn't live with her anymore."

"Did you talk to Eric?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "He's the one who suggested it."

"So you just packed up your things and came here?"

"For the most part, yeah," Maureen coughed, "It's not like I could stay on the base with Eric, you're my only option."

"Did you think of calling?"

"Yeah, but I only had your old number, and I never really got to know Richard that well, so I really didn't want to call him and ask for your new number," she defended.

"Fine," Abby relented, "Why did Maggie come with you?"

"She followed me," she rolled her eyes, "I was sitting on the bus, looked up, and there she was."

"What time did you leave Tampa?"

"Bus left at 4:50 AM."

"And she still followed you?" Abby asked.

"She can be quite persistent when she wants something, remember?"

"Yeah," she sighed and paused a beat, "How long has she been off her meds?"

"One, maybe two months," Maureen drew her knees to her chest, "She was good for a year and a half, and I got comfortable, stopped checking."

"That's not your responsibility," Abby tried to get her sister to meet her eyes, "You don't have to take care of her."

"You always did," she said challenged without looking up, "I should have paid better attention."

"This isn't your fault."

"Yes, it is. Maggie wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me," she lifted her head to look at Abby, "I know you don't want her here. I watched you tell the guy at the desk she wasn't your mother, I watched her running down the hall screaming for you, and I watched you two talk. I know you're not happy she's here."

"It's just that she makes life so," she searched for the right word, "complicated."

"Nicely put," Maureen smirked.

"Yeah, well," Abby smiled, "You know I'd rather not have Maggie here-"

"That's an understatement."

"But," she continued, ignoring her sister's outburst, "I have no problem dealing with it if it means I get a chance to see my favorite sister, okay?"

"Okay," Maureen hugged her.

"Now we can get down to business," Abby pulled some supplies from a nearby cart and Maureen groaned, "Blood draw time."


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I own nothing and I'm not profiting…enough said.

A/N: I begin this fic many moons ago and abandoned it, but thanks to the support of my neighbor (aka spykid18) I've gotten back to it. I hope people are still interested. Let me know what you think!

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_Chapter 2_

"A sister?" Carted question as soon as Abby stepped out of the curtain area, "You only mentioned your brother."

"Well, it was in context," she shrugged, "I was talking about my childhood, Maureen wasn't born until I was fourteen."

"You still could have mentioned she was sitting in chairs," he said as they approached the desk.

"I didn't exactly know that," she admitted, "Maureen and my mother are both supposed to be staying in Tampa. In the event something like this happens, she's supposed to stay with Eric."

"Well that obviously didn't happen."

"Yeah, no kidding," she started to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I've got patients," she brushed off his concern.

* * *

Maureen pulled her headphones off and looked around with mild boredom. Fifteen minutes after Abby left, Maureen had pulled back the curtain to watch the events going on throughout the ER. To call them events was a bit of an exaggeration. From her location, all Maureen had seen were drunks and people with flu-like symptoms, not that exciting. The highlight of that time was Dr. Carter bringing her a robe and some dinner

It had been about an hour since Maureen's chest x-ray, but even if it was a slow night in the ER, the lab still took hours. Tucking her CD Player into her bag of belongings, she swung her legs over the side of the gurney. Maureen slipped off the nasal cannula, deciding that she didn't need the oxygen for what she was about to do. Transferring her IV bag to a movable stand, she wrapped her robe around her tighter and walked away from the curtain area.

She walked purposely through the busy ER, being ignored by almost everyone. Maureen had learned at a young age that if you pretend you know what your doing no one will bother you. Abby had taught her that; it was the easiest way to explain their mom. If not for that, Maureen was pretty sure she would've been in foster care years ago. Taking a deep breath, she pushed all those thoughts aside and walked into a seemingly empty exam room, "Hey, Mom."

* * *

"Hey, Abby," Carter caught her coming out of an exam room.

"What's up?" she scribbled some notes on the chart she held.

"Labs are back on your sister," he tried to gauge her reaction.

"And?" her face revealed nothing.

"Viral pneumonia," they paused at the end of the hallway near the elevators, "Did she happen to mention who prescribed the Zpac?"

"Uh, no," she mumbled, "It was probably someone from Maggie's HMO."

"Her white count's pretty low and she's not moving air that well, so she'll have to stay here for a night or two."

"Okay."

"Do you want to bring her up?"

"Yeah."

"You want to get a cup of coffee?" he tried to get more than a monosyllabic response.

"Didn't we already do that?" she referred to the earlier cup they shared by the river.

"You look like you could use another," he looked her in the eye, "Come on, Weaver's not around."

"I'm only on for another hour and a half," Abby argued, but smiled slightly.

"You sure?" he asked, "We could get pie."

"No thanks, really," she started walking back to the Curtain area.

"All right," he relented and followed Abby to Maureen's now empty gurney, "Where is she?"

"Um," Abby glanced around spotting her sister in an exam room and groaned, "With our mother."

* * *

"Maureen!" Maggie slid her art supplies to the side and jumped off the gurney to hug her, immediately noticing the IV pole and hospital gown her daughter wore, "What's wrong."

"Pneumonia," she shrugged walking to the gurney to sit down.

"Pneumonia?" Maggie gasped, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said hopping onto the gurney then breathing heavily as a result of the effort, "I'm fine."

"No you're not, you don't sound good," Maggie touched her cheek, "You have a fever, you should be lying down."

"Mom."

"I shouldn't have dragged you to Chicago," she continued frantically ignoring Maureen, "I should have brought you to a doctor sooner. I should have done more, and then you wouldn't be sick. I'm a bad mother."

"Mom, Mom, Maggie!" Maureen shouted to get her attention, "It was my idea to come here. I did go to a doctor, and you're not a bad mother. I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," she gasped, near tears.

"It's okay, I'm fine," she hugged her, "I just need some fluids and IV meds."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," she smiled, "You're my baby."

"Have you seen Abby?" Maureen changed the subject.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I'm waiting for her to get off work so we can talk."

"That's good."

"You want me to go with you?" Carter asked as Abby walked toward the exam room.

"Nah," she shook her head slightly, "I should do it alone, but thanks."

"Don't worry about it."

"I mean it Carter," she paused , her hand on the doorknob, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he smiled and she smiled back before she opened the door.

"There you are," Abby walked into the exam room looking at Maureen and ignoring their mother, "Why are you out of bed?"

"We were talking," Maggie answered for her.

"She shouldn't be walking around," Abby scolded, her words were directed more to Maggie than Maureen.

"My fault, I got bored," Maureen said quickly, sensing the tension between her mom and sister, "What's up?"

"They have a bed for you upstairs."

"She have to stay in the hospital?" Maggie questioned worriedly.

"She has pneumonia," Abby snapped.

"It's just for a couple of days," Maureen tiredly soothed their mom and turned to Abby, "Let's go."

"I want to go with you," Maggie began to gather her things.

"No," Abby began harshly but after a desperate look from her sister, she changed her tone, "You have to wait here until she gets settled, okay? I'll have someone call you, okay?"

"Okay," Maggie sat back down, "I'll see you later, sweetie."

"Okay Mom," Maureen said as Abby opened the door.

"I love you," she called after them.

"Yeah, me too," Maureen said as the door swung close, "Thanks."

"No problem," Abby smiled and Maureen wobbled slightly, "You okay?"

"Just a little dizzy," she felt Abby's arm tighten in support around her waist.

"I should have brought a chair."

"I"m fine," she maintained and Abby rolled her eyes.

"Sit!" she ordered when they got back to Curtain 2 and immediately handed her the discarded nasal cannula, "You're not getting sufficient levels of O2 so you need to stop getting out of bed."

"Yes, Nurse Abby," she mocked slipping on the oxygen, coughing briefly.

"I'm not kidding, Maureen," she flipped through the chart, "The infection's viral, so you need all your strength."

"Okay, okay."

"Wait here," Abby left and returned quickly with a wheelchair, "Hop in."

"To what floor am I going," she climbed off the gurney and into the chair.

"'To what' how formal," she teased, transferring the IV bag and oxygen tank.

"Excuse me for having good grammar," she laughed and started to cough.

"You shouldn't be laughing, it's bad for your health."

"I thought laughter was the best medicine?" Maureen challenged.

"Not when you're in respiratory distress," she shot back and Maureen stuck out her tongue, "Very mature."

"Thanks," she grinned, "Now do me a favor."

"What?"

"Stop being the nurse and start being my sister."

"As you wish," Abby laughed, pushing her to the elevator."


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: They're not mine and I'm not profiting…well, Maureen is technically mine, but I'm still not profiting!

A/N: Thank you to Spykid18, Lysie, Lexi, and anyone else who may still be reading. Once again, I'm sorry for being sporadic, but I'm a college student and life is a little crazy!

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_Chapter Three_

"How are you?" Luka asked the moment he saw Abby in the ER.

"Fine," she lied, walking into the lounge.

"Really?"

"Yes," she opened her locker.

"How's your sister?" he asked, dropping the previous subject.

"In Pedes with viral pneumonia," she sighed, "Maureen will be fine."

"That's good. What about your mother?"

"She left."

"For where? Florida?"

"Beats me," Abby grabbed her jacket from the locker, "I gave her money for a bus ticket back to Tampa. She wouldn't take it and just stormed off."

"What about Maureen?"

"She'll stay with me once she gets out of the hospital."

"For how long?"

"As long as she wants to," she slammed the locker closed, "Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"Of course not."

"I'm sorry for snapping at you," she sighed, rubbing her neck, "Today's just been so--"

"Stressful?" he offered, taking over to massage her neck.

"I would have said crazy," Abby glanced over her shoulder at him, "But yeah."

"You should go home and take a hot bath."

"I have to check in on Maureen."

"Well, after that you should relax."

"I wish you weren't working now," she turned around to face him.

"I'll call you in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah," she headed to the door of the lounge, "Thanks, Luka."

* * *

Abby walked through the pediatric wing annoyed by all the bright colors adorning the walls because they directly contrasted her current mood. She was angry; angry that Maggie left without talking to Maureen. If there was one thing that she hated the most about Maggie being bipolar was the explaining. Abby had been doing it for twenty years, but explaining their mother's absence to her siblings never got any easier. The situation could never be easy. She finally reached room 2192, took a deep breath, and walked in.

"How are you feeling?" she began, completely avoiding the Maggie issue.

"Eh," Maureen shrugged.

"Is the medicine helping?"

"I think so," she could tell exactly what Abby was hiding, she always could, "So."

"So."

"Mom left didn't she?" it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah."

"Figured," there was a brief silence, not awkward, just quite, "What set her off?"

"I gave her the bus fare back to Florida and told her to go home," Abby admitted almost sheepishly.

"Did she take the money?"

"Um, no, she left it."

"Good, she didn't have any money so she couldn't have gotten far," Maureen concluded and Abby just looked at her, "You are going to look for her, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I just don't want her to be alone in the cold tonight," she tried to lighten the mood, "She's not really dressed for it."

"True," Abby smirked.

"So, you'll go?"

"Yeah, I just don't want to be doing this again," she sighed, "Which is totally unfair to you because all the time I'm not dealing with it you are."

"Yeah, but you've already served your time, it's my turn," Maureen looked up at the ceiling, "Except I'm shirking my responsibility."

"Well, you could always stay with me and we'll make Eric be mature."

"Like that'll happen," she snorted and then coughed.

"Are you mocking our brother?" Abby handed her sister a cup of water.

"Maybe," she took a sip, "But it's all in good fun...and true."

"Whatever," Abby took back the cup and set it on the table.

"So."

"So."

"Why aren't you leaving?"

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, that," Maureen smirked, "Off you go now."

"Fin, fine, fine," she stood up, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Will you call me when you find her?"

"No, you need sleep," Abby glanced around the room, "Besides, you're in ICU, no phones."

"Fine," she made a face, "Can you leave a message with the nurses in case I wake up in the middle of the night and happen to see one?"

"Yes, but no staying up for that specific purpose."

"Yes'm."

"Nightie-night," she mocked, rolling her eyes.

"Night," Maureen called as her sister closed the door.

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A/N: Well, what do you think? I haven't decided if this will be Carby or Luby, so let me know with the help of that beautiful purplish button! 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I only own Maureen…the rest are too important for me to own.

A/N: So it's been quite a while since I last updated, but thanks to SpyKid16 and twinmuse, I've brought it back. I'm still not sure whether to go Carby or Luby, so if you're out there let me know which you'd prefer. Happy reading!

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_Chapter Four_

"Good morning!" Maggie greeted cheerily, practically bouncing into Maureen's room the next morning with a vase of colorful flowers, "For you."

"Hey Mom," she set down her magazine on the table at her bedside, watching her put the vase near the window, "Thanks."

"You're welcome. How are you feeling?" she busied herself pulling over a chair.

"Eh, okay. They moved me out of ICU this morning" she shrugged, "How are you?"

"I'm just fine, but you aren't," Maggie's eyes drifted to the IV pole, "I should have come by last night."

"It's okay."

"It's not," she stood up, "I got into a fight with Abby, and I was distracted and I left my baby girl in the hospital all alone without even seeing her."

"It's okay," Maureen broke in, resting her hand on her mother's arm, "You're here now."

"Are you feeling better?" she sat back down, repeating her earlier question.

"Thanks to my happy juice," she wiggled her fingers on the hand with the IV. They began to lapse into silence, and Maureen glanced around the room searching for conversation. Her eyes settled on the window, "It looks like a nice day outside."

"Looks are deceiving, it's freezing."

"I like the cold."

"I know, you always have," she paused to think, "There was this one winter—it was before Abby turned seventeen, so that made Eric fourteen, and you about two—anyway, there was this terrible snowstorm and school was cancelled. Abby and Eric were having a snowball fight and you wanted desperately to join them, but I wouldn't let you off the porch you were getting over a cold. You were upset and when I wasn't looking you filled your bucket with snow and dumped it on my head."

"Did I?"

"Yes," Maggie laughed, "I was so mad at you, but when I saw you in your little pink snowsuit with that look of victory on your face I started laughing and we joined your brother and sister."

"I wish I remembered that," she smiled.

"We have pictures somewhere."

"I remember other winters in Minnesota," Maureen changed the topic, knowing those pictures were probably long gone, 'when Abby could come home on breaks, and she and Eric would take me sledding."

"You guys would be gone for hours," she remembered fondly, "And you would come home so tired. You look tired now."

"I am a little tired suddenly," she yawned, "It must be the medicine."

"I'll let you sleep then," she stood up, "I'll come back around four."

"Okay," she reclined the bed."

"Sleep well, snow angel," Maggie kissed her forehead and closed the drapes.

"Thanks Mommy," she whispered, closing her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, Maureen thought about what life would have been like if Maggie was normal.

* * *

"Hey, where were you?" Abby grabbed her jacket from her locker, surprised to see Luka walk into the lounge with is coat already on.

"I had an errand to run," he smiled, "You ready for lunch?"

"Yeah," they left the lounge, "What's in the bag?"

"Books."

"Books?"

"Yes, books."

"What kind of books?" she asked as they crossed the ambulance bay to Doc Magoo's.

"The school called when you were in trauma, so I picked up Maureen's books for you."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to," he smiled, "You have enough on your tray right now."

"Thanks," she grinned, "And Luka, it's plate, not tray."

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah, sure."

"So," he began once they had ordered, "When are you going to tell your mother that Maureen's going to stay with you?"

"I was hoping I'd mention it when I put her on the bus tomorrow."

"Abby."

"What?" she sighed, "A girl can hope."

"She's still your mother."

"Unfortunately," Abby continued before he could break in, "I know that sounds terrible, but something big must have happened for Maureen to come all the way up here. With everything we've seen, it would take a lot to justify a bus ride from Tampa to Chicago."

"She's a teenager, maybe she was just angry," she looked at him skeptically as the waitress set down their food, "I know it sounds simple, but I'm sure you were tempted to do the same at that age."

"Yeah, but I could have never left Maureen and Eric."

"Well, Maureen's the youngest, right?" Luka asked and she nodded, "So there's no one keeping her from running."

"Here's hoping you're right," she mock–toasted him with her coffee mug.

"Cheers," he clinked his mug against hers, making her smile.

"And I meant it when I said thanks."

"I know," he took her hand and squeezed it, "You're welcome."

* * *

"Please tell me that bag is filled with food from the outside world," Maureen greeted Abby that afternoon."

"Even better," she handed her the bag.

"Books?"

"Homework."

"Hate to break it to you Abby, but these aren't part of my curriculum," she flipped through the books.

"Starting next week they will be."

"Are you referring to what I think you're referring?" she laid the books on her lap, "I get to stay with you?"

"I enrolled you at the high school here this morning."

"That was fast," Maureen was obviously excited by the news, "What did you tell the school."

"That our mother was ill and that you'll be staying with me for the rest of the school year. Your school in Tampa faxed your transcripts this morning."

"Have you figured out how to tell Mom about this?"

"I was going to let you do that."

"Why me?"

"You're the one who decided to come to Chicago," Abby leaned back in the chair, propping her feet on the edge of the bed.

"You're the responsible adult."

"Yeah, right," she snorted.

"Plus, I shouldn't have to," she waved her hand with the IV, "I'm sickly!"

"Exactly! You can pull the sympathy card."

"Oh, you wouldn't want me to do that."

"Why not?"

"She'd feel guilty and want to stay," Maureen crossed her arms defiantly, "Unless that's what you want."

"Fine, we'll do it together," she relented, "I get off at three."

"She said she'd be back around four-ish."

"Good," she sighed, not looking forward to that conversation.

"Now that we have that settled," she folded her hands primly, "Tell me about your apartment."

"It's not that exciting. It's an apartment."

"Do I get my own room?"

"Yes," Abby rolled her eyes, "You get the extra bedroom, but it's really just a glorified closet."

"I can handle it," her mind drifted back to their mother, "How long are you going to let Mom stay with you?"

"I'm putting her on a bus back to Florida tomorrow."

"You are aware that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, aren't you?"

"Doesn't matter," she folded her arms, "She belongs in Florida."

"She'll fight it."

"I know," she unfolded her arms and sat up straight in the chair.

"What if she won't let me stay?" Maureen asked softly, voicing the concern that had been lingering in the back of her mind since Maggie followed her onto the bus in Tampa, "Then what will we do?"

"We'll make it work," she promised, "I won't let you go back to dealing with that alone."

"Even if it means going to court?"

"It won't come to that."

"How can you be sure?"

"I just am," she assured her. If Maggie went far enough as to argue custody, Abby knew that the disease would rear its ugly head before the case even appeared before a judge, "I also know you need your rest."

"What do you think I've been doing all morning?"

"Entertaining visitors," Abby glanced at the flowers by the window.

"From my bed," she argued.

"You have pneumonia," she stood up.

"I'm aware," she watched Abby dim the lights.

"Then you're only protesting because you know I'm right," Maureen stuck out her tongue, but Abby kept walking, "Sweet dreams."

* * *

A/N: Now make me smile by clicking that little review button!


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